Misconceptions
by HollyStone73
Summary: Professor Snape is sent to rescue Harry in the summer after his first year, exposing the truth about how his relatives have treated him. Forced to rethink what he thought he knew about the boy, wearing down the walls of prejudice and hatred between them and changing the paths of both of these wayward souls in ways neither would have ever imagined. NO SLASH; Snape Mentor Fic
1. Chapter 1 - Unresponsive

**Chapter 1**

Pain was not a new thing for Harry Potter. Neither was hunger. Experiencing the worst degrees of both of them simultaneously while being locked up in his room for over a week was almost proving to be more than he could handle. He was certain that this would be the death of him, which he found pretty ironic considering what he had overcome last year.

In attempt to get his mind off of his pain and discomfort, he reflected once again on how he had come to find himself in this most unfortunate circumstance.

It had all started when he had gotten a strange visit from a creature that referred to itself as a house-elf who was named Dobby. Dobby claimed that he had come to warn him against returning to his school, Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizarding the upcoming year. The elf had dropped his Aunt Petunia's pudding all over Harry in an attempt to ruin his Uncle Vernon's very important business meeting. The night might have been salvaged if it hadn't been for the arrival of the owl from the Ministry of Magic with a warning about the use of underage magic even though Harry had not been the one who cast the spell. How was he supposed to have known that Mrs. Mason suffered from an irrational fear of birds? And how was he supposed to control who and when he was sent owls? Regardless of what had been in his control and what hadn't been, his uncle had been furious and had placed the whole of the blame upon him.

An unfortunate side effect of the ministry owl had been that his relatives discovered that Harry was forbidden to use magic outside of school. With the threat of retaliation by magic that he had been holding over their heads now gone, the Dursley's found a renewed dedication to make his life miserable.

So Harry had been locked away in his room, a cat flap, in order to pass meager food rations through, had been installed on his door and heavy rod iron bars had been installed on the outside of his window. His uncle had even placed a lock upon Hedwig, his owl's cage. He could not help but feel as though he were in some crude prison or even an exhibit in a zoo.

For the first couple of days of his imprisonment, Harry had practically been ignored completely by his aunt, uncle and his cousin Dudley. He was let out of his room in the morning and evening to use the loo. He was sometimes fed twice a day, for lunch he received the crusts that had been cut off of Dudley's sandwich and dinner several spoonfuls of cold broth. He fed most of what he had been given to Hedwig who had, at first refused his rations until she realized that she would not be getting anything else.

One evening when Harry had been let out of his room to go to the loo, he had been unfortunate enough to collide with Dudley in his haste to get down the hall. The force of the collision caught Dudley off guard causing him to fall backwards into the wall and bang his head against the small shelf adorned with framed photos. With horror, Harry attempted to scurry past his cousin before he could regain his balance but had been unsuccessful.

He tried to brace himself against the impact of Dudley's oversized fist, but found himself airborne and winded from the force of the blow to his gut. He realized immediately that it was taking much longer than it should have to hit the ground. It wasn't, however, until he began tumbling head over heels in a bouncing sort of way, that he realized he was falling down the stairs. The sickening crack that he felt and heard when he had finally finished his decent nearly caused him to vomit. As he tried to stand and move the offended arm he had gasped loudly and almost passed out from the pain.

He had tried telling his aunt that he believed himself to be injured badly, but had been dismissed and told that he was simply overreacting. He had known better than to press the issue so he kept quiet and tried to deal with the pain. He had found that if he kept his arm completely still close to his body he experienced very little pain.

Sitting on his bed now, nine days since that house-elf had shown up and ruined his already crappy birthday, he wished for nothing more than to be back at Hogwart's. He wanted to see his friends so badly. What would they do when he did not show up at the school when term resumed? Would Professor McGonagall or Professor Dumbledore come to his house and retrieve him? Or would he just be allowed to stay put in his prison and be forgotten about?

Hogwarts had been the only place that he had felt he truly belonged. It was the only place that he had any friends or anyone to care about him. Now he was quite certain that it was the place that he was never going to see again.

* * *

As Professors Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape made their way to Headmaster Albus Dumbledore's office, both were wondering why they had been summoned to the school in the middle of the summer holiday. Neither said a word to each other as they entered the office to find Dumbledore pacing in front of his window.

The headmaster waited until the both of them had sat down in the chairs he had conjured in front of his desk before beginning to speak.

"I'm glad that you both made it," he began. "I am sorry for disturbing your holidays, but it has recently been brought to my attention that we may have a small problem regarding Harry Potter."

"What else is new?" Snape sneered. It figured that Potter would be the reason for his summer being ruined.

Ignoring Snape altogether McGonagall asked, "What is it Albus? Did something happen?"

"I'm not exactly sure, Minerva," he said with a sigh. "Hagrid came to me a couple of weeks ago saying that he was becoming concerned about Harry since he had failed to respond to any of his owls so far this summer. More recently I received a notice from the ministry about Harry being issued a warning for the use of underage magic."

Snape snorted in derision. Of course the boy was using magic since he felt that he was above having to follow the rules that are set forth for the rest of wizarding world. He was growing increasingly angry, but forced himself to bite back his retorts as Dumbledore continued speaking.

"This morning, Hagrid came to me again after receiving letters from Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger expressing their concerns about Harry. Apparently neither of them have heard from Harry either thus far this holiday. Normally," he continued as he stood and resumed his pacing, "this would not be an incredible concern to me since I know how children can be. However, based on the reports of mistreatment and neglect at the hands of his Aunt & Uncle that I received previously I fear something more serious may be wrong. Last year his relatives took extreme and somewhat comical measures to try to prevent Harry from allowing him to know who he was and even attending Hogwart's."

"What do you mean allowing him to know who he was?" Snape snapped.

Dumbledore gave Snape a small smile, "His aunt & uncle have an extreme dislike of anything that they consider to be abnormal or strange, so they never told Harry that he was a wizard. Sadly that task fell onto Hagrid last year when I sent him to deliver Harry's acceptance letter."

"Albus you can't be serious," McGonagall cried. "How in the world did they explain James & Lily to him if he didn't know that he was a wizard?"

"Harry was told that his parents had died in a car crash. He had absolutely no prior knowledge of magic or anything involving magic or the wizarding world prior to Hagrid showing up to give him his letter," Dumbledore recited sadly.

Snape tried to hide his surprise and disgust from his colleagues. That certainly explained a lot about the boy and why he seemed so inept at even the most trivial of tasks, like writing with a quill, and why he seemed so far behind the rest of his classmates. Of course that only meant that the boy should have been trying harder than the rest of his class to catch up .

"How did I not know this?" McGonagall muttered. "He never said a thing about this."

"I should think, that as Head of House, Minerva, you would have taken more of an interest in your students," Snape sneered.

The look that she shot him was absolutely venomous which Snape found to be quite satisfying. How could she not have known what was going on with the boy? Surely he would have complained or whined about it at some point in hopes to get some kind of special treatment or attention.

"Sadly I believe that Harry was too ashamed or embarrassed to reveal the truth about how he was treated. That and I believe he has simply been accustomed to being punished by his relatives if he tried to tell anyone about the way he was being treated," Dumbledore said as he stared at Snape with the piercing blue eyes.

Damn him and his legilimency! Snape usually was very good about occluding his mind, but had found himself slipping quite a bit in the last couple years something he was apparently going to have to work to remember to do more often apparently.

As Dumbledore continued to try to explain the Dursleys to Professor McGonagall, Snape found himself fuming quietly to himself. He supposed that he should have seen this coming from what he had known of Petunia as a child. While he really hated to think that she would really have tried to hide the existence of all things related to magic from her sister's son, he had to admit that he wasn't surprised. He remembered all too clearly how jealous Petunia had been when she had learned of Lily's gift, especially when she herself was not even the slightest bit magical.

Still he found himself becoming increasingly angry that Petunia would choose to dishonor her sister by inventing some ridiculous muggle death for her instead of telling the truth about how she had died a hero's death by standing down one of the darkest and most evil wizards of their day.

"Someone will need to pay the Dursley's a visit," Dumbledore was saying, "and check up on the boy. I would have just sent Hagrid again, but last year there was an unfortunate incident involving the unnatural growth of a swine's tail that I would like to not have repeated."

"I can go, Albus. I would like to give these people a piece of my mind," McGonagall volunteered.

"Actually, I was hoping that Severus could do the honors. As honorable as your intentions would be, Minerva, I think it would be best if we sent someone who was a bit less emotionally attached to Harry. There needs to be a certain tact when dealing with people like Vernon Dursley and it would not be good if the situation were overly charged with emotions. What do you say, Severus?" the older wizard asked with the hint of a grin.

Snape stared at him in disbelief certain that he was joking. "Let me get this straight," he spluttered. "You want me to act as a one-man search party to check up on a boy that is probably just too busy answering fan mail and reveling in his new found fame, just because he hasn't written to his friends, in the middle of my holiday which is the one and only break from these little brats?"

"Yes. Although I doubt that Harry is spending his time answering his fan mail. I think that if you ever gave the boy a chance you'd find out just how wrong your appraisal of him truly is," Dumbledore said in a scolding tone.

"So what am I supposed to do with him once I see that he is indeed, very much alive and well?" Snape resigned with a sigh.

"Nothing. We just want to know that he is not in any trouble. You don't even have to let him or the Dursley's know that you are even there if you do not wish to," Dumbledore replied simply. "If, however, you do find that something is amiss I know that I can count on you to handle it appropriately as you would see fit."

Snape stood up. "Is that all you need from us then? I would like to get this over with so that I can resume my holiday."

Dumbledore nodded and Snape hurried out of the office mumbling something about playing nanny as he left.

Once the door had closed behind him, McGonagall spoke up. "Are you sure that sending Severus to do this is the right thing given his irrational dislike of the boy?" she asked hesitantly.

"I am certain that this visit has to be done by Severus for precisely that reason. His dislike of Harry, sadly enough, has nothing to do with Harry at all. I think Severus needs to see just how unlike his father Harry really is. This, I believe, will be the eye-opening that they both need," he said with a sad, but wise grin.

* * *

When Snape arrived on Privet Dr and made his way to the home of the Dursleys, he had decided that the best approach for this unpleasant task would simply be knocking on the front door. However, after pounding on the door for nearly a minute straight with no answer and no signs of stirring he was forced to admit that there was either no one home or that he was being ignored. That thought only furthered his aggravation at the ridiculousness of this task.

With a cursory look up and down the street, he cast a silent unlocking spell and the let himself in. Silently navigating through the downstairs living areas, he found that he could not silence nagging voice in the back of his mind that kept telling him that something in this house was not quite right. Everything looked normal enough with the possible exception that maybe it was all too clean and organized. The house had more of a museum feel than a lived-in home, but Snape knew that it was more than that. He saw, in all of the family portraits and pictures, what could only be defined as a happy & normal family.

Except - He stopped immediately as the answer came to him in a rush. There was no sign anywhere at all that there was a second child that lived in this house! Retracing all of his steps, Snape checked and double checked all of the portraits in all of the rooms and was shocked to see that his observation was confirmed.

Instantly his senses were on high alert. He was certain that he was in the right place, so why was there absolutely no sign or trace of Harry anywhere? He proceeded cautiously up the stairs, inspecting the many pictures displayed along the walls as he ascended.

When he had reached the top of the stairs he was drawn immediately by the closed door with the padlocks. Being sure to first check the three open doors in the hall, which he found to be two bedrooms and a bathroom, to be sure that they were unoccupied, he then focused his full attention to the locked door. As he studied the door he noticed a small hole towards the bottom of the door that was covered by a flimsy piece of rubber. Using his foot, his kicked the flap open and was astonished when he heard a timid voice from within the locked room.

"Hello" Pause. "Who's out there?"

"Mr. Potter?"

There was a lengthier pause before a trembling voice replied, "Professor Snape?"

That was all the confirmation that Snape needed. "Stand away from the door Potter."

After giving him a minute or so to move, Snape raised his wand and blasted the door in, ripping it clean off it's hinges and busting the door into three large pieces.

Stepping over the fragmented pieces of door into the room he was surprised to find that he had nearly over-looked the small huddled figure of Harry that was perched nervously in the far corner of his bed. Harry had always seemed scrawny and small to Snape, but somehow looked as though he had gotten even smaller since he had last seem him instead of bigger as he would have expected.

"Am I in trouble for something, sir?" Harry asked meekly.

"Trouble? What in the world would give you the idea that you were in trouble? Unless there is something that I am not aware of that you need to confess to?" Snape sneered.

"No sir. I just can't help but wonder then sir, why you would be here at my house," Harry mumbled.

Neither could he, Snape thought but to Harry he said, "I need to know what is going on in this house. Why was this door locked from the outside and where in the world is your aunt and uncle?"

Harry said nothing. Instead he shook his head and shifted his eyes so that he was staring at the threadbare covers on his bed.

Snape, recognizing the behavior, stepped closer to the bed. "I must insist, Potter, that you tell me what is going on here. I assure you that you are not in any trouble. I must add, that it will do not good trying to lie to me, since I will know if you try," he said silkily.

Harry looked up at his professor nervously and began to explain to him about the arrival of Dobby the house-elf, the pudding incident, Mrs. Mason's reaction to the owls and how they had all resulted in him being confined to his room,

Snape listened to Harry's depiction of events and found himself getting angrier and angrier. When Harry had paused in his story Snape asked, "How long do you have to stay confined in here every day? Is it only when they go out somewhere?"

Harry blinked in confusion and said, "I'm in here most of the day, sir."

"Well surely you must come out for meals…you must be exaggerating," Snape stuttered, but even as he muttered those words, he was sure that he knew the answer.

"I eat my supper in here, sir," Harry whispered as he stared at the floor. "When there is extra food, my meals are sent in through the flap in the door that you stuck your foot through."

It took all of the will power that Snape could muster to keep from exploding and hunting down these despicable muggles.

Choking back a growl he said, "Pack up your things, Potter. Hurry up."

Harry looked at him with a stunned expression. "Where am I going sir?"

"I don't know yet. I haven't worked things out that far yet," he confessed. "But it doesn't matter. Get moving."

Harry reluctantly began trying to move carefully to the edge of his bed, while still trying to keep his arm secure and close to his body. Suddenly a thought occurred to him.

"Um…sir?"

"Yes, Potter," he replied impatiently.

"I…uh…I am going to need some help getting my trunk packed, sir," he gulped.

Snape rolled his eyes. "Surely you can manage a task as small as this without needing someone to hold your hand."

"It's not that, sir. My trunk and all of my school things, my supplies and books, are locked up downstairs," he said quickly.

"Locked up? Why in Merlin's name is your stuff locked up?!" Snape exclaimed.

"Uncle Vernon did not want them out and laying around, I suppose. He hates anything related to magic," he feebly explained.

"May I ask how it was that you were intending on completing your summer assignments?" he retorted.

Staring at the ground again he mumbled, "I was going to work on it on the train back, sir."

Snape sighed, "Where is it that your things are being kept?"

"In my cupboard downstairs," he replied immediately.

Snape was just ready to interrogate Harry about this cupboard that he called "his" when he noticed the strange way that he was holding his arm. As he watched the boy moving around the room gathering his things he was careful to not move his arm or jostle it in any way. Several times he noticed the painful wince that he tried to cover up with a yawn.

"Is there something wrong with your arm, Potter," he asked with a dangerous edge to his voice.

Harry flinched and said hesitantly, "I think so, sir. It hurts to move it," he admitted as his face began to turn red.

"Let me see," Snape insisted as he grabbed Harry's hand and tried to move his arm straight out to his side resulting in a screech of pain.

Immediately Snape realized that there was something very wrong and told Harry to take off his shirt. Harry slowly worked at the buttons of his shirt while Snape tried to calm his rising anger. As a way of trying to distract and calm himself, he gently pushed Harry's hands away and helped him the rest of the way out of his shirt.

Just underneath Harry's right shoulder was the most ugly bruise that Snape had ever seen. The dark purple, black and red contrasted harshly against his pale skin. Even his untrained eyes could see from the misshapen curve of his shoulder that something was definitely broken.

"How did that happen," he growled through gritted teeth.

Feeling his face get hot with shame, Harry replied quietly, " I fell down the stairs after…uh…running into my cousin, Dudley."

Snape looked at him skeptically before saying, "Never mind about your stuff for now, we need to get that shoulder looked at."

He helped Harry get his shirt back on and conjured up a sling for him to wear to better help him keep him arm immobilized. He then went downstairs to wait for Harry to use the loo and tried to work out a plan.

He had no idea where he was supposed to take Harry, but he knew for certain that he could not be allowed to remain in this house with these people. How could Dumbledore have allowed the boy to have been treated like this? He knew that was going to have to have a serious talk with the old man as soon as the boy was taken care of.

As soon as Harry had come downstairs Snape escorted him down the street to a deserted playground.

"Grab tight to my arm, Potter."

Harry did as he was told, and held onto Snape's arm with his good arm. In a blink the both disappeared from Privet Drive with a loud pop.


	2. Chapter 2 - Adversative

_**Author's note: WoW! I am absolutely overwhelmed by the response that I have already received by this story! Thank you all so much! Luckily for y'all, this is my NaNoWriMo story so I will be working on this pretty diligently for the rest of the month and updating as much as I can!**_

_**A quick note...For the time being I will be sticking mainly to Snape's POV since we all pretty much know how things play out for Harry for now. When things start changing I will switch back & forth! **_

_**So here it is...I hope you continue to enjoy what I have done! **_

* * *

**Chapter 2 - Protective**

Snape stormed into Dumbledore's office more than ready to give him a piece of his mind when he realized that the headmaster was not alone. Sitting in the chairs that were placed in front of the headmasters desk sat Professor McGonagall once more as well as Molly Weasley who both appeared to have been anxiously awaiting his return.

"Soo…?" McGonagall prompted nervously. "How is he doing?"

"Better than he was. Poppy just finished with him. Besides the broken collarbone and general malnourishment and neglect he appears to be all right," Snape scoffed.

"Oh thank heavens you were able to get him out of there, Severus. If I had known I would have gone myself, or at the very least sent Arthur," Molly cried.

Snape nodded at Molly and the looked at Dumbledore saying with venom in his voice, "I would hope that none of us could have imagined him being in a situation as bad as he was."

"Is it true that they had him locked in a cupboard under the stairs? Ron had said that it was a possibility, so I'm guessing that it has happened before," Molly said with a tear.

"I found in him a small bedroom upstairs that was locked from the outside, bars on the windows and a flap in the door that was used to pass what meager rations that 'could be spared' to him," Snape snarled.

Snape was finding it incredibility difficult for him to check his anger at the headmaster who was staying surprisingly quiet. He was becoming increasingly sure that the old man had been very much aware of the conditions in which Harry had been enduring throughout the years. While it was true that Snape could not confess to having much love for the boy throughout his previous year at Hogwart's, he could admit that he may have been wrong in his assumption that his attitude was due to a spoiled and pampered life like his father's had been.

"I think the question that needs answering right now, is what do we do with him now? He can't possibly stay here at the school for the next month or so," McGonagall asked.

"He can come stay with us. We can just take him along with us when he head to Diagon Alley to get his books and things with everyone else," Molly suggested.

"Goodness me, my dear," McGonagall said. "Surely you have enough on your plate already, especially with your youngest starting this year as well. Are you sure you could manage one more?"

"Don't be silly, Minerva. It won't be any trouble at all. What is one more body at this point? Our house may be a bit cramped, but I think we can make him feel quite comfortable there. We'd be more than happy to have him," Molly insisted.

"It is settled then," Dumbledore spoke up finally. "You can head down and collect him from Madam Pomfrey whenever you are ready. I am most certain that he will be most pleased with the arrangement. Does he have his belongings with him already?"

"Not yet, sir," Snape replied. "I figured that getting him to a healer was essential over gathering his luggage. I will, however, return to Privet Drive and retrieve his things."

As well as have a little chat with the Dursley's while he was there Snape thought angrily.

"You can bring it right to The Burrow then if you wouldn't mind, Severus," Molly said.

"Very good," Dumbledore said as he stood.

"I would like to have a word with you, Albus, before returning to that house," Snape said quiet.

Dumbledore nodded and sat back down. He waited until McGonagall and Molly had left the room before speaking.

"I know that you angry, Severus, but I need you to know that had I thought that Harry had been in any real danger I would have intervened immediately," the old wizard said quietly.

"So 'real danger' does not include being locked away, starved, beaten up by his cousin and then denied medical attention?" Snape spat at him.

"While the troubles that Harry has experienced at the hands of his relatives are truly unfortunate, yes, I feel that they have not done any lasting damage to the boy," Dumbledore replied calmly.

"Unfortunate?! You made me promise that I would keep Lily's son safe and now you tell me that he has been mistreated his whole life?!" Snape bellowed.

"I feel that I must point out to you, Severus, your behavior towards him last term was that of a bully just as much as others' have been. So much so, in fact, that you encouraged students from your own house to despise and taunt him," Dumbledore reminded him sternly.

"I was there when I needed to be! Who was is that kept him from getting thrown from his broom when Quirrell was jinxing it?" he yelled.

Dumbledore smiled. "But not when you overheard him and his friends planning to rescue the stone themselves."

Snape was now completely infuriated. "I gave them plenty of warning of what would happen if they were found out and about after curfew again! It is not my fault that he is a determined delinquent intent on breaking any rules set down for his own protection!"

"Oh do use your head, Severus," Dumbledore said, as his voice grew harder. "Of course he wouldn't listen to you since he was determined that you were the one trying to steal the stone. Your hatred of him was more than evident for him from the first moment that he stepped into this school something that was enough of an issue, by the way, that he felt the need to question me about it."

Snape opened his mouth to try to dispute this claim but was cut off with a wave of his hand.

"Now," Dumbledore continued, "I am perfectly comfortable admitting that I, along with the rest of the staff, had seriously underestimated him as long as we also admit that we failed him. He tried to warn up that someone was trying to steal the stone, but was brushed off. This of course left him with no other option, in his mind, than to act. Believe it or not, his actions and behaviors in the chamber as well as the events leading up to it all were a direct result of how he has been treated and raised by his muggle relations. We must wonder where we would be if it had been anything different," he finished sadly.

"But –" Snape started.

"No 'buts' Severus," Dumbledore interrupted firmly. "If you feel this strongly about the situation then it is time for you to make a decision. You can continue hating him because of who his father was and keep seeing his behaviors as a mirror of James or you can open your eyes and allow yourself to see how much more alike he is to his mother. Only then will you be able to decide how best to fulfill your promise to protect the boy," he said with a tone of finality.

Snape stared at the wizard incredulously for several long moments before he turned and stormed out of the office.

* * *

As he sat in the darkened living room waiting patiently for the Dursleys to return home, Snape thought about what Dumbledore had said to him. Was Harry more like Lily than James? He certainly looked like a splitting image of his father. Was it really possible that he was anything like the kind-hearted woman that he had loved so long ago?

The sound of keys turning in the door turned his attention back to his current task. He heard the cheerful chatter of the three of them as they entered the house.

The first person Snape saw was a rather round looking child whom he could only guess what Harry's cousin, Dudley. It was quite obvious that he had never missed a meal in his entire life.

"Who are you?" Dudley stuttered.

Before Snape could answer, a scrawny tall woman came into the room just behind her son. The surprise on her face quickly contorted to anger and she that recognition registered on her face.

"You! What are you doing here?" Petunia spat at him.

"I assure you Tuney, this is the last place that I would care to be spending my summer holiday, " he replied caustically, smiling at the sight of the woman's grimace at the use of her childhood nickname.

"Who are you are what are you doing in my house?" shouted an exceptionally large man that he could only assume was Vernon Dursley.

Snape took a deep breath, trying to squelch his anger and then said, "I am Professor Severus Snape from Hogwart's Scho—"

"Don't you DARE talk to me about that place! I should have known that you were one of THEM," Vernon interrupted.

"THEM?" Snape asked with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

Vernon must have recognized the threat that had been spoken in that single word, because he wisely changed the direction of the conversation.

"What did that boy do now to bring you here?" he spluttered.

"Surely nothing that would warrant being locked in a room, being fed only through a hole in the door and denied adequate medical attention for a broken collarbone," he said in a low growl as he took a menacing step toward the three of them.

"I – I – I had no idea that he had broken anything," Petunia said with a stutter.

"Of course you wouldn't have known. That may have meant that would have actually needed to acknowledge his presence," Snape replied snidely.

"Now see here, how we handle that boy is no concern of yours!" Vernon yelped bravely. "We were not asked if we wanted to take him, but instead just woke one morning to find him dumped on our doorstep with nothing but a note. We should have just sent him off to an orphanage, but instead graciously took him in and—"

A blast from the hallway next to where the Dursley's had been standing caused the three family members screech in terror. As Vernon had been talking, Snape had been studying the small locked door under the stairs. He guessed that this was the cupboard that Harry had said his school things had been locked up in. However, he had also not forgotten how Harry had referred to it as "his" cupboard.

"What are you doing destroying my house?!" Vernon screamed as his face started turning purple.

Ignoring them all, Snape walked past them and peered in the small space. He pulled the large trunk out from where it had been jammed in there. Without the large trunk filling the space it was quite obvious that this had once had a small person dwelling in it for quite a significant amount of time.

Several old ragged towels were placed upon the floor and a threadbare thin blanket was carefully folded and placed upon another small blanket that Snape guessed had been used as a pillow. Several pieces of paper with child-like drawings on them were hung up around the space. The most telling piece of evidence was the paper upon which had been written "Harry's room" in a child's handwriting. As he watch a spider scurry across the makeshift bed, he decided that he had seen quite enough.

He stood and spoke quietly trying to keep the angry tremor in his voice to a minimum. "I have come to collect Mr. Potter's belongings. He will be spending the rest of the holiday recuperating at the home of one of his classmates. He will be leaving for school from there. This will, I trust, allow you a respectable amount of time to arrange for more suitable living arrangements for Mr. Potter should he be required to return to your home after this term."

Upon hearing this Vernon quickly spoke up, "There is absolutely nothing that is needing to be arranged for that little freak's living arrangements!"

"Is that so?" Snape said with a sneer.

With a quick flick of the wand that had been concealed in the arm of his robe, Vernon vanished.

"AAAAACK!" yelled Petunia. "What have you done with my husband?"

With a nod of his head in the direction of the space that he had just examined, Petunia let out another screech of horror. The door that Snape had just blasted open was now fixed and locked as it had been when he had first arrived at the house. Only now, from the inside of the cupboard there was a grunting, cursing and frantic man's voice as he realized where he was.

"Let me out of here at once," bellowed Vernon from with the cupboard.

Snape, who was quite amused that he had even fit into the cupboard replied snidely, "I am afraid that I can not let you out. I haven't got the key."

Then paying no attention to she crying and screaming, Snape busied himself getting Harry's belongings and school things together and into the trunk. He smirked to himself when he realized that Petunia and Dudley tried in vain to set Vernon free from his cramped prison.

Without another word to any of them Snape rushed upstairs to grab the owl cage with the great snowy owl and then hurried back down heading straight to the front door of the house.

"Where are you going?" Petunia cried. "You need to release him from there!"

Snape turned to look at this hysterical woman and for a moment saw her as she had been so long ago when they had been children. He could vividly remember how she had brought Lily to tears so many times by her taunts and name-calling.

"Feel lucky, Petunia, that this is all I am doing. I am certain that every one of you deserve far worse based on how I suspect all of you have treated Mr. Potter. If you would prefer me not to leave, I am sure that I can demonstrate to your offspring the errors of his treatment of the boy," he finished with a cold smile.

Petunia paled. "You wouldn't dare touch my son."

"Wouldn't I?" he countered dangerously. "That monster of a child deserves so much more than even my twisted mind can conjure. However, If I ever hear of him laying another hand on Lily's son I will reconsider my restraint."

Without waiting for a reply, Snape turned and walked out of the house with Harry's trunk in tow. When he reached the street he had to stop and calm himself.

We had allowed himself to get too angry. He had always prided himself on his abilities to keep his emotions under careful control. However, the combination of the painful reminder of his own childhood and the complete lack of human decency that these vile muggles had shown towards a mere child was enough to nearly push him to his breaking point. The fact that this child was Lily's son just made it nearly unbearable for him. Even if the child had proven himself to be maddeningly annoying the previous year, even he deserved better than this.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts he mentally steeled himself in preparation for his next task…a visit to the Weasley house and the home of least favorite twin delinquents. He released Hedwig to fly ahead, certain that the owl would prefer to fly as opposed to apparating. Then juggling the empty owl cage and the heavy trunk, he spun on the spot and disappeared.

* * *

Gratefully sipping on the steaming cup of tea, Snape looked around The Burrow curiously. It was, he decided, a very comfortable kind of home. Very different from the house that he grew up in or even from the house that he currently resided, but it was clean, albeit cluttered, and quite obvious that there were far too many people dwelling there. Somehow though, the house still managed to maintain an atmosphere of warmth and comfort, which even allowed the normally on edge and stern professor a moment of much needed relaxation.

"I can't tell you how grateful we are that you were able to get Harry out of that place, Severus," Molly said as she entered into the small living room and sat down across from him with her tea. "I truly feel horrible that we didn't move to do something sooner."

Snape shook his head. "Do not blame yourself. I do not think that any one could have imagined that things were as bad as they were. I can only hope that another alternative can be found for his living arrangements before next holiday."

"We can keep him here," Molly insisted. "We turned added another cot into Ron's room for now, but I'm a certain that we can arrange for something more permanent for him before the end of term."

Frowning Snape said, "There is no reason that you should be burdened by having yet another mouth to feed. I am positive that there is another option that would be much less of an imposition."

Smiling Molly said, "At this point I honestly don't think that one more mouth to feed will even be noticed. Especially with as little as he eats. I tried to get him to eat some supper when he arrived and he barely even finished half of his sandwich! And yet he is nothing but skin and bones!"

"Yes," Snape said thoughtfully. "Unfortunately he was pretty much kept on the edges of starvation, so it would not be wise to try to get him to consume an excess of food right away. Try to limit his sweets and encourage his to drink fruit juices. I believe I have the ingredients in my stores for a nutrient potion. I can brew up enough until he returns to the school and can bring by for you tomorrow."

"Oh thank you so much. You are so kind to him. I think we are all lucky that it was you that was sent to retrieve him," Molly gushed making Snape feel most uncomfortable. "You must come by tomorrow and help us celebrate his birthday. It was unfortunately last week, but we can't let him go without anything."

Snape shook his head. "No. No thank you," he corrected. The last thing that he needed was to find himself in the midst of some boisterous and over-indulgent party.

Anxious to change the subject Snape asked, "How did he seem tonight?"

Molly thought for a second before saying, "Pretty well I guess. He spent some time out de-gnoming the garden with the twins and Ron but he still seemed to be favoring his right shoulder though."

He shut his eyes as the image of the horrific sight of the bruised and broken shoulder invaded his thoughts. Fighting against the rising anger he said quietly, "Poppy had said that there was quite a bit of damage to the muscle and tendons in the arm. She also had said that he bone had started to heal out of place before she could fix it. So he most likely may be experiencing some tenderness still, but it should not last long. If it become worse please like me know and I'm sure I can brew up something that will make him more comfortable," he finished as he stood and readied to leave.

"I will. Are you sure you don't want some supper before you leave? Arthur has been working such crazy hours all wrapped up in these raids that he could be home at any time now and I have been keeping food warm for him," Molly asked as they walked toward the door.

Shaking his head Snape replied, "No thank you. I really must be going. It has been a long day and much like your offspring, I should be sleeping right now. Thank you for the tea. I will return tomorrow with the potions for Mr. Potter."

He bowed slightly, said his goodbyes and made his way out to the lane. As he stood glancing back at the oddly built house that seemed as though it was only held together with magic, he felt certain that Mr. Potter would be able to heal well here. It was just the sort of place that would allow him to see how families were supposed to be. He only hoped that the time spent with the twin jokers will be kept to a minimum to assure that he doesn't start assimilating their behaviors. Maybe he should make just that suggestion when he returned to the house tomorrow. Molly Weasley seemed like a reasonable enough of a woman to be able to understand his concerns.

Feeling satisfied and overly tired, he disappeared with a pop.


	3. Chapter 3 - Disruptive

**Chapter 3 - Disruptive**

As the doors to the Great Hall opened and the students poured in fresh from the carriages Professor Snape could not suppress his groan. Another year had begun. He watched the children as they scurried to their table he could not help but wonder if the kids were getting smaller each year. He was certain the he was never this small. Maybe it was excesses of sugar and junk that children these days were consuming that was not allowing children to grow to their full potentials.

His mental musings were interrupted as his attentions were called upon by the maniacal laughter of his two least favorite students. Fred & George Weasley stumbled into the hall laughing like a pair of court jesters while pushing each other around like a bunch of buffoons. As the older Weasley with the Prefect badge, scolded them and encouraged them to settle themselves into the long Gryffindor table, he could not help but notice that there were two people missing from the table.

Where in Merlin's name was Mr. Potter and the youngest Mr. Weasley? The other members of the Weasley family did not seem concerned about the absence of the two of them so maybe there was nothing to it. Still, he could not seem to quiet the nagging voice in the back of his mind that was telling him that something was not right.

Once everyone was seated and Professor McGonagall was preparing to lead the new batch of first years in to be sorted, Snape noticed Argus Filtch rushing past the first year students that were nervously waiting to be escorted to the front of the hall. Without pausing, the old man ran straight up to the front of the room and scurried behind the head table until he was right behind Snape.

Leaning back the man whispered furiously into his ear, Snape could feel his face heating up. Someone had crashed into the Whomping Williow out on the grouds. He didn't need to think long to guess who it was responsible for such an outrageous stunt! Maybe it had not been such a good idea entrusting the Weasley's with Harry, since they obviously let their children run completely wild!

Gathering himself and slipping away from the table, Snape hurried out onto the darkened grounds to investigate further. Unsure of what he would find, and what condition he would find the two missing hooligans he was shocked to realize that his stomach felt like it was all knotted up causing him to feel a little nauseous. He tried telling himself that it was merely a result of his hunger and had absolutely nothing to do with worry or concern for the boy.

* * *

Harry sat in the office fearfully awaiting for Professor Snape to return. He had sent Ron ahead claiming that he needed to talk with Snape about his relatives. Ron had looked at him as if he were a complete nutter, but Harry didn't care.

He felt horrible. He was not sure if he had misread the expression on Professor Snape's face as he scolded them, but he had not been able to keep from feeling as though he had disappointed the man. Plus the threat of being expelled and sent home to his relatives house was a frightening enough of a threat, that he felt that he needed to try to apologize directly to him in hopes of expelling those threats from his mind.

While he & Ron hurriedly ate the cold sandwiches they had been given he had not been able to get the vision of those dark eyes that had stared at him accusingly while Professor McGonagall had been scolding him. He wasn't sure how the potions master would react to finding Harry still here waiting for him to return, but he knew that trying to talk with him was the right thing to do. Thankfully, Harry did not have to wait long for his teacher to return.

When the office door flung open and Professor Snape glided into the room he had been so involved in his own thoughts that he didn't see Harry sitting there right away. When he finally looked up and realized that he was not alone, his face hardened and the anger returned to his eyes.

"Don't you have someplace that you are supposed to be, Potter," he spat.

Taking a deep breath, Harry rushed to speak, "Yes, sir. I wanted to talk to you before heading up to bed sir. I..uh..well…I never had the chance to thank you for coming to get me from the Dursleys'. I also wanted to tell you that I really am sorry about the car and that tree. I know how angry you are and that you still probably want to send me back to the Dursleys' and..well…I really can't go back there, sir. I'll do anything to avoid ever going back there," he finished in a muffled ramble.

Professor Snape stared at him with what he guessed was shock for several long minutes before taking a deep breath and speaking in his quiet, low tone, "Do you realize how lucky you and Mr. Weasley are to not have been killed or seriously injured by your little stunt?"

Harry was someone surprised by this question. He nodded slowly as he thought to himself about how neither Professors Dumbledore nor McGonagall had expressed such a concern for their safety. They had seemed more upset that they had broken the laws and damaged the tree.

Snape rolled his eyes and said as if he could tell what Harry had been thinking, "I suppose Mr. Weasley will be in enough trouble with his father once the ministry is finished with their investigation. I don't suppose that thought ever crossed either of your minds."

"No sir," Harry mumbled feeling even worse. After they had been kind enough to take him in and care for him when no one else would, he had gone and made things worse for them. He felt like he wanted the floor to just open up and swallow him whole.

As he sat worried about the trouble he caused to his friends' family, a question that had been bothering him since that morning sprang to his mind. "Sir…Do you know why the barrier did not open for us?"

Snape furrowed his brow and said, "I can not say, Mr. Potter. I admit that I have not ever heard of such a thing happening to a student before. I must admit that the fact that you were that student must be taken into account."

"Heh. Great," Harry muttered.

"I will suggest, that perhaps in the future you take care to use that feeble brain of yours before rushing off on some idiotic plan that could result in your untimely death or dismemberment?" he sneered.

"I didn't know what else to do," Harry said quietly. "I just knew that I had to get to school."

"Well I know that Professor McGonagall already pointed out to you that you could have easily sent an owl to the school asking for help," Snape replied snarkily.

"Well excuse me, but I've never had anyone that I have been able to ask for help from before so it wasn't something that I ever considered," he said with an injured tone.

Expecting to be yelled at for his outburst, Harry stared at the floor waiting. After several long minutes of silence Harry risked a glance back up and noticed that Professor Snape was staring at him with a peculiar look on his face. Determined not to get himself into any more trouble, he kept his mouth shut and continued waiting for his teacher to say something. Anything even.

Finally Snape cleared his throat and said, "Fair enough, Potter. May I ask, however, why it never occurred to you to ask Professor McGonagall for help? She is your head of house is she not?"

With a shrug Harry said, "She is always so busy, sir. And I guess I thought that she would have been angry with us for being a bother."

"Hm." Snape continued staring at him with that strange look and then said, "Well…I suppose you could always try asking myself if you ever found yourself in such a situation again in the future."

Now it was Harry's turn to stare at him. "Really sir?"

"In the event that there is no one else that you feel you can approach…yes. I'm am sure that you are familiar with the phase, 'The only stupid question is the one not asked'?" Harry nodded. "Very well then. Keep that in mind then and all will be well."

Harry's mind was reeling. Was Professor Snape being nice to him? Did he really just offer to help him if he needed it? He could not help but wonder what it was that brought about this change in him. Is it possible that he could have been wrong about him last year?

"I trust that you were able to complete your summer assignments?" Snape said cutting into Harry's musings.

"Oh yes sir. Although I am afraid that I may have to have Hermione look over my potions essay before I turn it in. I was a bit confused on a few things," he said surprising himself at his honesty. Was he going to get into trouble for admitting to having Hermione look over his paper?

Snape started to say something and then stopped himself. Instead he said, "Yes, well I suppose I can trust enough in your young friend to not be giving away answers or completing the assignment for you. However, if you find that her assistance is not enough to answer your questions I suggest you re-examine your notes from last year or come find me. We will be building on what you learned last year so if you are unable to grasp those concepts you will find yourself considerably lost from here on out."

"Yes, sir." Harry said as he stood to leave. "Thank you, sir."

"Hmpf," was the only reply as Harry hurried out of the office and up to Gryffindor tower.

* * *

The next morning at breakfast as the echoes of Weasley's howler died away and the laughter and chatter resumed Snape found himself to be vaguely amused which was quite different to what he had been feeling the previous night.

He had been taken aback by the sight of Harry sitting in his office waiting for him after the feast, but was even more surprised by his reasons for being there. The boy had not only thanked him for getting him away from his relatives house, but had unnecessarily apologized to him and very nearly pleaded to be allowed to never have to return there again. What had gotten into that boy's head?

He had to admit that he was quite curious as to the reasons behind the platform closing up on him, however. He was certain that he had been skeptical when he had first heard the weak excuse that the pair of them had offered up to the headmaster, but after taking a brief peek into the boys mind he felt secure in the boys' story. So much as that after Harry had left his office, Snape had contacted an acquaintance at the Ministry of Magic who tried to do some research on the train platforms in hopes of finding reports of incidents similar to Harry's. Unfortunately he had only been able to find cases of the various passages sealing themselves to prevent muggles from stumbling through. It was definitely something that he was going to file away and keep a close notice on in the future.

"Heads up, Severus," McGonagall growled in his ear from next to him. "Lockhart is headed this way."

Snape snapped his head up just in time to see the lavender clad wizard smiling down at the both of them. Thinking quick, Snape jumped up and spun around to make his way out of the hall.

"Severus my friend," Lockhart exclaimed, "I understand that you were most disturbed about the whomping willow that was damaged last night. Well," he continued without waiting for an answer, "allow me to reassure you that I will be meeting with Paloma after breakfast to assist her in how to properly nurse the poor thing back to health. You are most welcome to join us."

Snape smiled coldly. "I assure you, I have other issues that require my attentions this morning. But I'm sure that Madam Sprout will be more than happy to have your assistance."

From the table next to where he had just been sitting, Professor McGonagall began coughing to cover up her laughter as Professor Lockhart walked away presumably to locate the herbology teacher.

"I am sure that Sprout will be more than happy to let loose one of her tentacula plants on you for encouraging him, Severus," McGonagall croaked through her smothered laughter. "What did that poor woman ever do to you?"

"I assure you I have nothing against her, Minerva. She is just an unfortunate casualty in the battle to avoid the moron's senseless ramblings and ridiculous delusions of inflated self-importance," Snape insisted. "What in the world was Albus thinking, inflicting this irritating imbecile on us?"

McGonagall shrugged her shoulders and said, "Merlin knows. I have a feeling it is going to be a very long year."

* * *

Snape was in quite a foul mood as he made his way to the headmaster's office. This first week of classes had been far more exasperating than usual for him. The dramatic arrival of Potter in that damned flying car had only been the beginning of his mounting frustrations.

The very next day, Snape had been graced with a visit from the one and only Lucius Malfoy who all but demanded that his son Draco be given a position on the house Quidditch team. Try-outs were to be held at the end of the week, but that was not good enough for the overbearing father. Instead he insisted on buying his son's way onto the team by purchasing the latest Nimbus brand broom for the entire team. Naturally it was an offer that Snape could not have turned down, but he was not happy about the whole thing.

Over the years, Snape had insisted upon allowing only the absolute best players to participate in the sport to assure their continued dominance of the game. Of all of the houses in the school, the Slytherin team auditions were the most vigorous and elite. It was well known that holding a position on the Slytherin Quidditch team meant that you were truly the best of the rest.

When he had informed his captain, Marcus Flint about the gift from Draco's father, he had been equally as worried about what kind of seeker Draco would be in comparison to their previous seeker Terence Higgs, who would have to be booted from the team to allow Draco to assume the position. However, Mr. Flint was well aware of the significance of the gift to the team and was also very well schooled in the ways of money and power, so he had known what needed to be done. He had taken great care to assure Snape that he would train harder with the other team members to try to cover down and take up the slack wherever Draco might end up lacking.

When Lucius had left his office, Snape was disturbed to realize that the visit had seriously left him on edge. He was, for the most part, on relatively good terms with the Malfoy family despite, or maybe because of, their shared previous connection to the Dark Lord, but Snape was always wary of Lucius. He was a very calculating and sly sort of man who was always on the lookout for ways to get ahead and stand out from his peers. Unfortunately this led to an extraordinary amount of pressure being put upon his only son, whom Snape suspected had great difficulties trying to live up to the idealistic image that his father carried of him in his mind. This unfair pressure placed upon Draco weighed so heavily upon him that Snape reminding him of his own father, causing Snape to do what he could to help push the boy in the direction needed to satisfy Lucius.

After the arrival of Lucius and the gift of the brooms, Snape had been forced to endure the almost constant harassment from his biggest Quidditch rival, and coworker Minerva McGonagall. She insisted that the gift of the brooms was unethical to have accepted and had even tried taking the issue to the headmaster. Thankfully the headmaster had sided with Snape in saying that no rules had been broken. He had managed to placate McGonagall, however, by implying that whatever advantage may be gained by the use of the brooms would not prove to be impossible to overcome by more talented members from members of the other houses.

Disgusted by the memory Snape mumbled to password and stormed past the gargoyle. The old man had better have a very good reason for summoning him tonight since he wanted to do nothing more than to retire to his quarters and sleep for the next day or so. So naturally it would be the one thing that he would be unable to do.

"Ah, Severus. So glad you could make it," Dumbledore said upon Snape's entry into his office.

"Did I have a choice?" Snape scoffed.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Of course. We always have a choice."

Snape decided to ignore him and wait for him to get to his objective in requesting his presence. Thankfully it was not a long wait.

"I think we may have a problem with Harry," Dumbledore began sadly.

Much to Snape's annoyance, this definitely caught his attention and created feelings of concern and alarm that he was most unaccustomed to experiencing. Doing his best to hide these bizarre feelings from the headmaster for fear of them being interpreted as caring for the boy Snape huffed and said, "Now what has he done?"

"I just paid Gilderoy a visit to see how Harry's detention went and was astonished to learn that there were some concerns about the possibility of Harry hearing voices," Dumbledore explained quietly.

"This is precisely why I should have been allowed to handle Potter's detention! Surely you cannot believe anything that blithering idiot says," Snape snapped angrily.

"Well then you will be happy to know that Gilderoy technically did not say anything to me about this event," Dumbledore said with a small smile.

"Occlemency," Snape said with understanding as he shook his head. "That is one brain that I would like to never get a glimpse into," he muttered.

Unfortunately Snape was very much aware that Dumbledore's intrusion into the dimwitted fool's mind solidified the seriousness of the incident. Of course there was no reason that Snape should care about this. So the boy was off his rocker. It was not completely shocking considering the events of his life, he supposed.

"So I am assuming," Snape mused, "your need to inform me of this situation would suggest that you expect me to do something about it?"

"On the contrary," Dumbledore said. "I merely wish to keep you informed so that you will be able to help keep a closer eye on him. Do not say anything to him yet. We must give him the chance to be able to deal with these kinds of things on his own."

"Do you have any theories about what this means for the boy?" Snape inquired, grateful that he was not being asked to interfere in the boy's life further than he had already been made to.

Dumbledore adjusted the glasses on his nose and stared down at his desk. "Not yet. It may very well have been nothing more than a reaction to something as insignificant as lack of sleep."

"You do not believe that," Snape surmised. "If you did, I would be in my quarters sipping on my tea preparing to crawl into bed."

Dumbledore smiled warmly. "I often forget how intuitive you are, Severus. You are right of course. I am concerned that there is more to this than either of us realize, although I hope for his sake I am mistaken. I only wish I knew more."

"I have made it clear to the boy that he should not have any fears about asking for assistance when needed. Whether or not he will adhere to that advice is not yet determined," Snape said quietly.

"Interesting," Dumbledore commented quietly. "And did you give him any guidance as to whom he should be asking for assistance?"

"Whomever he can find," he replied in a growl. "Is there anything else that you need from me? I do wish to get to sleep sometime tonight."

"I have nothing else," the headmaster said with a knowing smile. "Do try to enjoy the rest of your evening."

"Hmpf," Snape muttered to himself as he hurried out of the office.

The truth of the matter was that Snape knew that he would not be getting any quality rest tonight. The perplexing issue that Dumbledore had laid at his feet would definitely not be permitting him to be sleep tonight.

On his way back to his quarters he decided that a brief detour to the library would be necessary. After assuring Madam Pince that he would close everything up behind him, he searched the shelves for anything that could be used to assist him in solving this newest mystery. Unfortunately he was most unsure of where he even was supposed to start looking. After exhausting himself looking for everything from muggle illnesses and case studies on abuse to curse side effects and magical maladies he finally gave up realizing that he was not going to find an easy answer to this one.

He spent the rest of the night trying to reason with himself and convince himself that his concern was nothing more than the challenge of having an unsolved mystery taunting him and not that he was worried in anyway for the boy's health and well-being. He nearly threw his cup of tea across the room as he realized that he may have made a fatal error in allowing the boy to get into his head. He was never going to be able to have any time to relax as long as this ridiculous child was destined to continue on this path of self-destruction.

As he finally drifted off into a restless sleep, he could not help but wonder if all children were this disconcerting and if they were, what in the world would prompt parents to willingly continue trying to bring more of the little demons into existence. He supposed he would never understand the need for such attachments nor why he suddenly felt lonelier than he had in a very long time.


	4. Chapter 4 - Perceptive

**Chapter 4 - Perceptive**

Despite the dramatic beginning of the term, Snape was very pleased when things slowly fell into a comfortable familiar routine. Lockhart was still continuing to get on his nerves on a regular basis, but he was getting better at avoiding him. The rest of the staff seemed to be on the same page as him in regards to their exasperation with the flamboyant braggart and had begun avoiding the staff room altogether. Instead staff members had taken to taking turns gathering in the living suites of their personal quarters. Thankfully Lockhart hadn't caught on and requested to join them.

On one of these afternoon social teas in Madam Pomfrey's quarters, Snape found himself the focus of Professor McGonagall's attention.

"So how is your seeker working out for you?" she asked with an amused tone.

"I think he'll hold his own well enough," Snape sneered. "Besides the addition of the new brooms will inevitably create far more scoring so chances that even if he was unable to capture the snitch, Slytherin would still come out victorious."

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "We'll see."

"Speaking of Quidditch, Minerva," Madame Pomfrey interrupted, "I trust your seeker has fully recovered from his injuries this summer?"

"Oh yes. He's seems to be doing very well," McGonagall assured her. She took a sip of her tea and then said, "I have to say that I was surprised how healthy he looked when he arrived here at school. No doubt as a result of Molly's cooking and diligent care."

She looked like she wanted to say more, when the muggle studies teacher, Charity Burbridge, who reminded everyone that it was time to proceed to the Great Hall for the Halloween Feast, interrupted her. With much grumbling everyone stood and began to make their way down to the feast.

The Halloween feast never had been a favorite for the staff at Hogwart's. The mischief night antics of the students combined with the incredible amounts of sugar consumed over the course of the night inevitably resulted in a very long and exhaustive night for the staff. Of course, Dumbledore insisted that the whole rational for the feast was to help keep the students occupied and prevent the number of mischievous acts, but everyone knew that it was his love of sweets that truly kept the feast happening every year.

For Snape the whole day was nothing more than a horrible reminder of his most terrible and tragic deeds that resulted in the death of the woman that he still loved more than his darkened heart could bear. If anyone noticed the worsening of his mood as the day came closer no one dared mention it, but Snape suspected that the old fool of a headmaster knew the burden that he carried with him this day, which was another reason he insisted upon the staff participation in the Halloween festivities.

At least he knew that he had pretty firm control of the students in his house and would have relatively little to be concerned about from them. Most of the Slytherin students were way too sneaky and secretive to get caught in their various pranks thanks in part to the fear of upsetting their intimidating Head of House. If only the rest of the Heads could emulate his leadership he doubted that there would be any issues at the school. But alas they insisted that the weak reins they held on their students was more than enough to keep the little fiends in their places.

The decorations in the Great Hall were as ridiculous as ever. Besides the live bats, floating pumpkins and carved Jack-o-lanterns there were huge floating banners that spelled out different things like, "HAPPY HALLOWEEN", "BOOO!" and "FRIGHT NIGHT". To make matters worse, once all of the students were seated and the food was served, a troop of performing skeletons emerged to entertain everyone with juggling acts & dance routines.

"What do you think, Severus?" asked a jovial voice from next to him.

Hesitantly, Snape turned his head to reveal his worst fear, Lockhart had somehow managed to secure a seat right next to him. Furiously glancing down the table he saw his coworkers trying very hard to appear consumed in their dinner plates while trying to hide their smirks of amusement.

Filing away this betrayal from his fellow professors to use against them at a later date, Snape sighed dejectedly and said, "What do I think about what?'

"Why, the improvements that I made on the decorations of course!" Lockhart declared in a wounded tone. "I wanted to create a more festive atmosphere so I charmed the banners and even made them emit spooky moans and howls."

Listening carefully, Snape was just able to make out the faint imitation of a banshee, a werewolf and what he could only describe as a moaning cat in heat. It figured that this buffoon would be responsible for this ridiculousness.

Lockhart began to ramble senselessly on and thankfully required very little response from him, which allowed him to mostly tone him out and scan the hall in boredom. The skeleton troop was quite the hit with the students who were laughing loudly as the skeletons kept stealing bones from each other's bodies to alternately juggle and pummel each other with. How barbaric!

Continuing his scan of the room his eyes inadvertently fell upon the Gryffindor table. A cursory look up and down the length of the table caused him to realize that a particular student, along with his two little minions, were missing from the celebration. Where in the world could they be? Surely they, like the rest of the student body, must have been looking forward to this all week. His mind began to race as he considered the possibilities that could have drawn them away from the Great Hall on this night. Luckily he didn't have to wait long before the scary truth of their absence was revealed.

* * *

The four heads of houses stood together in the headmaster's office in a nervous silence awaiting Dumbledore's return from the hospital wing where he had escorted Filch and Mrs. Norris. Their faces were all grim and concerned, and Snape was quite certain that their minds were racing almost as fast as his. Of course, Snape knew that their thoughts were no were near as turbulent as his own thoughts.

The boy had not been truthful even after he had threatened to have him banned from Quidditch. If it hadn't been for the presence of his coworkers he would have forced the thick-headed child to speak to him. The oddest part of it all, however, was that even his friends who were quick to jump in and cover for him, were unsure of what to make of what was happening to Harry.

When Dumbledore finally arrived in his office he seemed more tired than Snape had seen him before. His piercing blue eyes had lost their sparkle and his shoulders had a definite slump. Of course as soon as the old man realized that Snape was being his usual overly observant self he straightened up and addressed the gathered staff members.

"I have managed to calm Argus as best as can be. Poppy gave him a calming draught for tonight and he will sleep it off in the hospital wing. She is confident that there will be no lasting damage to Mrs. Norris after the Restorative Draught is brewed and administered," Dumbledore recited.

"You don't believe that the Chamber has truly been opened, Albus?" Madam Sprout burst anxiously.

Dumbledore shifted his eyes to Snape who gave him a slight shake of the head, and said, "I do not believe so, no. I believe that we need to attribute this to a foolish Halloween prank and try to move on from here. However…I do expect everyone to stay alert and keep me informed of any odd or suspicious behaviors from any student OR STAFF! After last year we need to always remember that things may not always be what they seem."

"What do we tell our students?" Flitwick asked nervously.

"Tell them exactly that," Snape cut in. "That this was nothing but a prank and to pay it no mind. We all are very much aware of how quickly things get out of hand with these children. The last thing we need is to add to the paranoia and suspicions."

"Severus is right," McGonagall chimed in. "Not to mention just how damaging this could be to the school if word of this got out to the Ministry. Or heaven forbid to the Prophet."

"It is settled then," Dumbledore said decidedly. "Go and address your houses and placate their fears."

Everyone hurried to the door except for Snape who hung back knowing that Dumbledore would be wishing to speak with him.

"Well?" Dumbledore prompted softly. "What did you get from him?"

Snape sighed. "He is hiding something, although it may not be what we think. I believe it may be something to do with the voices that he heard in Lockhart's office."

"That is what I gathered as well," he replied with a nod. "You seemed particularly harsh with his considering you knew that he was innocent."

"I was hoping to scare him into telling the truth," Snape growled.

"Well, my boy, you must remember that not everyone responds to threats with such openness that you seem to be expecting from him," he said with a hint of his familiar sparkle in his eyes.

Ignoring the comment Snape pressed on, "Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger seemed quite uneasy with whatever it was that Potter was concealing."

"Ah yes. Most thorough of you," he said knowingly. "I confess that my primary focus was, naturally, on Harry, but I did catch glimpses of the uncertainty from the both of them. We should keep an eye on them as well. Maybe we can gain some knowledge about what is happening to young Harry through them."

"It definitely will not be any kind of a challenge to discern anything from Ms. Granger. All one would have to do would be to monitor her actions in the library and see which books she is searching for," Snape said with a sneer.

Smiling at last Dumbledore said, "Ms. Granger's constant thirst for knowledge and enrichment is what gives me hope in the youth of today." He sighed thoughtfully before continuing. "I could not help but notice that you have made several trips to the library yourself recently, Severus. Have you been looking for anything particular?"

"You know bloody well what I was searching for you old codder!" Snape spat. "Quite trying to be clever about it."

"As you wish," the headmaster conceded. "Then please allow me to say that I am pleased to see you taking an interest in the boy's well-being."

"Pft! His well-being my arse!" hissed the frustrated Snape. "I am merely curious about the mysteries surrounding the boy. Now if we are quite finished here, I need to go and brief my snakes about tonight."

With a wave of a hand, Snape was dismissed, although he did not miss the knowing smile that Dumbledore wore as he rushed out of the door.

* * *

On the morning of the Slytherin versus Gryffindor Quidditch match, Snape awoke with a nervous dread in the pit of his stomach. It was time to see if the gamble that he had taken in allowing Draco Malfoy to join the team in exchange for the new racing brooms was going to pay off. He had stressed to his team the importance of winning this match and they had been quick to reassure him, but he was still not certain. All he did know for certain was that he would never hear the end of it from Professor McGonagall if the lions were to come up victorious over his snakes.

He had to admit, as well, that he was truly interested to see how Mr. Potter, the son of the most obnoxious seeker that Gryffindor had ever known, would fare against Malfoy. He was very much aware of the constant clashes and animosity between the two of them, and often found it hard to not see the parallels between the two of them and himself and James Potter.

After mindlessly brewing up some much needed potions to replenish the school's stock, Snape headed down to the pitch to await the start of the game. As he walked he could not help but overhear the whispered gossip of several Hufflepuff students in front of him.

"Of course it was Harry," the blond boy was saying. "Harry was always getting into trouble with Filch. I'd bet you anyway that he did this to get back at him."

The mousey looking girl with the stringy brown hair stared at him with a look of astonishment. "Wow. Harry really is brave! Did you see how angry Filch was? I thought for sure that he was going to kill Harry until Professor Dumbledore showed up."

Snape rolled his eyes. Despite their best efforts to squelch the potential for rumors, it was obvious that these children were going to continue making up ridiculous stories. Naturally the rumors would do nothing but bolster the already inflated hero status of the boy.

Speeding up past the querulous children Snape found his seat in the staff area of the pitch. Just as he was settling himself in to watch the game, his attentions were called away by the appearance of Lucius Malfoy who was making his way up into the stands straight for Snape.

Holding back a groan, Snape rose and made room for his teams' benefactor to sit beside him. They exchanged small pleasantries between each other making observations about the gloomy looking weather and the general excitement levels of the gathered students for the first match of the year. Luckily, however, there was very little time for small talk before Madam Hooch signaled the beginning of the match.

It wasn't long after the match began that Snape realized something wasn't right. He watched in growing anxiety as the bludger ignored every other player on the field and chased after Potter exclusively. Trying to hide his concern from those around him, he kept his eyes glued to Potter, but kept his face neutral and stoic.

He was barely aware of the roar of the crowd as Slytherin scored time after time or the rain that began pelting the spectators and players. At one point Snape tore his eyes away from the game being played to glance at his blond companion only to see a peculiarly satisfied smirk on his face. His mind began to race as he began to wonder if Lucius had anything to do with Potter's bludger difficulties. Would this sinister man really go to such extremes just to assure his son's performance outshines the other's? Snape knew that he already knew the answer to that. Snape also knew, however, that it was nearly impossible that Lucius could have gotten access to the balls. Madam Hooch kept the balls securely locked up and at an undisclosed location, which would inevitably prevent Lucius, or anyone else, any opportunities for sabotage.

"Foolish boy!," Lucius muttered angrily from next to him.

He looked up just in time to see Draco taunting and laughing at Harry in mid-air. Looking carefully Snape could just catch the glint of gold just behind the Slytherin's head. Before Snape really had time to process the scene in front of him, he saw the bludger speeding up to the hovering Potter who has clearly let his guard down.

The pain registered clearly on Potter's face as the bludger slammed into his elbow. Snape could tell that the bone was broken by the way it hung limply at his side as Potter steadied himself on his broom and sped off towards Malfoy. Malfoy, clearly shocked by what appeared to be an aggressive move by the wounded Gryffindor, ducked out of the way thus clearing the path for Potter to easily capture the snitch.

Snape took no notice to the string of curses and insults that were being muttered angrily by the obviously disappointed elder Malfoy as he joined the rushing stampede of students and staff members that were rushing to the aide of the fallen seeker.

By the time that Professors Snape, McGonagall and Dumbledore had arrived at Potter's side, Lockhart had already made the situation worse. Snape watched in repulsion as Potter was led away by Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley his now boneless arm being held gingerly with his one good arm.

Snape turned on Lockhart angrily, "What in Merlin's name, is wrong with you?!"

"Severus," Dumbledore said warningly. "Not here."

Snape took a step back and tried to calm his racing heart. As he worked to calm himself, he became surprised at the intensity of the anger that he was feeling concerning the display of incompetence shown by the feeble-minded defense teacher. He knew that the damage done to the boy was not anything that Madam Pomfrey couldn't rectify. Yet he could not shake the persistent thoughts that kept telling him that this was a blatant attack on the boy made worse by the idiocy of an arrogant dolt who cared nothing for anyone but himself. Was it not bad enough that this child had been denied a safe and secure home for the whole of his life, that he was now being denied the same at the school he cared for so much?

Shaking his head he stormed away from the still gathered crowd suddenly longing for the comfort and solitude of his quarters. Surely he must be feeling ill or something with the way that he is wasting his efforts and feelings on Potter. This must be Dumbledore's doing he reasoned with himself. He has been planting ideas and thoughts into his head that has been softening his image of the boy. This was his ultimate plan from the very second that he had sent Snape to Privet Drive to rescue Potter. Well, he was going to put an end to this here and now. He was not going to allow himself to be manipulated by the doddering old fool.

Yet Snape knew, as he marched determinedly along to the castle that he was lying to himself. Somewhere in the past several months since his visit to Surrey, Snape had allowed Potter to intrude into his area of concern and he was most displeased with it. He needed to disentangle himself from this emotional blemish on his conscious. He knew then what he must do. He would force himself to distance himself from anything and everything concerning the child. No matter what Dumbledore requested of him, he knew that this is what needed to be done.

Feeling much more satisfied now that he had a proper plan on how to proceed, he was eager to get on with his plan. So he was surprised when upon reaching the castle he made his way up to the hospital wing rather than the sanctity of his living quarters.

He had to quell this unexplainable need to assure that no lasting harm had been done to the child.


	5. Chapter 5 - Afflictive

Chapter 5 - Afflictive

Snape was sound asleep and barely heard the insistent knocking on the door to his suite. At first he had been certain that it had been nothing but a figment of his now faded dream. When the knocking continued he reluctantly disentangled himself from his warm bed, out of his bedroom and into his sitting room.

The knocking continued as Snape took his time putting on his robe and getting to the door. He was the one being inconvenienced here, so what did it matter that his uninvited guest had to wait a little longer? When he finally could stall no longer he flung open the door and was surprised to see a somewhat frazzled looking Dumbledore.

"Headmaster," Snape said in surprise. "Are you ill?"

"Not physically. May I come in? Something has happened," Dumbledore said gravely.

Snape stood to the side and gestured for him to come in. "May I get you some tea?"

"Yes, please," Dumbledore said as he sat down. He waited until Snape had given him his tea and sat down before he continued. "A student was attacked tonight. Petrified, just as Mrs. Norris had been."

Snape felt his stomach drop. "Which student?" he asked hesitantly.

"A young Gryffindor first year named, Colin Creevey. It seems as though he was trying to visit Harry in the hospital wing." Dumbledore conveyed.

Snape was most irritated with himself as he realized that he had been terrified for a moment that it had been Harry that had been attacked. Blast that child! What was he doing to him?

"Do we know whom he was attacked by?" Snape asked carefully.

Dumbledore sighed. "I am not entirely sure that he was attacked by a whom. I am more worried that it may have been a what."

Snape just stared at the old man trying to understand what he was trying to say. He was not sure he knew of any objects or creatures that would be capable of petrifying a person. Maybe several plants, but none that would be commonly found in this hemisphere of the world.

"What are you thinking, Albus?"

"I'm afraid I do not know. But we need to be vigilant. Perhaps we should increase the night patrols. I don't think one staff member is enough at least until we get a better idea of what we are dealing with," Dumbledore suggested.

"I agree. I can draw up a new schedule first thing in the morning," Snape offered. "For now, I can finish out the night since I have no classes until the afternoon."

As much as Snape hated the thought of giving up any precious sleep, he knew that he would be too much on edge to sleep anymore tonight.

"You are most accommodating, Severus," the old man said with a small smile. "Your dedication to the safety of this school is unequaled to any other." Snape snorted. "Or perhaps your current uneasiness has something to do with a particular young man currently held up in the hospital wing?"

He knew that there was no hiding anything from this man. He just wished that he would learn to keep his mouth shut from time to time instead of unnecessarily pointing out things that were better left unsaid.

"There just seems to be an awful lot of unusual things that have been happening centering around Mr. Potter, and I can't help but think that perhaps this Creevey child was not the intended victim of this attack considering recent events," Snape spat defensively.

"There is no need to justify your rationales to me. I know that I count on you to do what you feel is necessary to keep Harry and the rest of the students safe from harm," the headmaster said warmly. "Which is why I came directly to you before anyone else."

Snape stared at the man certain that he had been teasing him, but was somewhat surprised to find that he had been most sincere with his words. He watched as Dumbledore chuckled quietly to himself, set his now empty tea cup down and stood to leave.

"Thank you for alerting me," Snape said. "I will notify you immediately if I uncover anything."

"I know you will, Severus. And go easy on the boy. I'm sure he's frightened enough right now," he warned lightly.

Snape shot him a glare as he escorted him to the door and out of his suite. Honestly, what did the old coot think he was going to do to the boy?

As it turned out, Snape didn't have to say a thing to Harry. Immediately after Snape had arrived in the hospital wing to check on the newest resident, he heard the small voice from across the room summoning him.

"Professor Snape?"

"What is it, Potter?" he replied as he approached the boy's bed.

"The house-elf was here," he said quietly.

Snape froze. "What house-elf?"

Harry looked up at him from the bed looking so much more like his mother without his glasses. The startlingly green eyes made his heart skip a beat and caused his breath catch in his chest.

"Dobby, sir. The one who came to my house and got me into trouble," Harry replied softly.

"Are you sure you were not dreaming, Potter," Snape asked knowing full well what the answer was going to be, but hoping that he was wrong.

"Quite sure, sir," he said as he struggled to sit up. "It was right before Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall brought Colin in here."

Snape pushed Harry gently back into a lying position, "Quit straining yourself or those bones will never grow back and Madam Pomfrey will skin us both alive." He summoned a chair from across the room and sat down beside him. "What did this house-elf want?"

"He – He – well, sir, he wanted me to leave Hogwart's. He said that it was dangerous for me here and that terrible things were going to happen. And, sir, he told me that it was him that stopped the barrier from letting Ron & I through! Then he said that when he realized that I had gotten here anyway, he sent the bludger after me!" Harry said getting more and more animated and forgetting to whisper.

"All right, no need to get yourself worked up," Snape said hushing him. "Did he say anything else?"

"Um…Well kinda…He started to say something about the Chamber of Secrets being opened again, but then he started hitting himself over the head with the water jug and saying that he was bad and refused to say anything else. Why would he hit himself like that, Sir? He did the same thing when he had come to Privet Drive and got me in trouble there." he asked.

Unable to hide the shock on his face Snape tried to explain. "Well…house-elves are a very old breed of magical creatures that were bred with the specific purpose to serve and take care of wizarding families. Actually, the practice of breeding them has all but died out ever since the ministry stepped in to regulate them. Now there are only a couple hundred or so left," Snape informed him. "Only the oldest and most wealthy wizarding families keep house-elves anymore. Most elves have been with he same family for generations and are privy to the families deepest and darkest secrets. House-elves are required to swear a blood oath to the families they serve, which prevents them from disobeying their masters or revealing their secrets in anyway. Obviously this particular elf was acting against his master's orders by being here and talking to you which is why he would have been hitting himself with the water jug."

Harry shrunk back into his pillow and whispered, "That's awful. So how do we find out who his master is?"

Snape glared down at the child, "We? We aren't going to find out anything. You are going to keep your mouth shut about this and concentrate on your classes. I will see what I can do to look into this elf. If the elf returns I expect you to come find me immediately. Do you understand me, Potter?"

Harry nodded reluctantly. "Sir? Is Colin going to be ok?"

"I believe so, yes," Snape said with a nod. "Professor Sprout has several young mandrakes that when they are of age can be ground up to make a restorative potion that will unpetrify him."

"How did he get like that? Everyone thinks that I had something to do with it," Harry rambled miserably.

"Surely you aren't allowing the idiotic ramblings of your foolish classmates to upset you?" Snape asked with only a small hint of condescension.

Not meeting his teacher's eyes he said, "I'm am just sick of everyone pointing and staring at me all the time. I just want to be normal."

Unsure of how to respond, Snape busied himself examining the copious amounts of goodies and treats that dominated the small table next to Harry's bed. He sincerely hoped that he had eaten something other than just candy for dinner. Maybe he should suggest to Madam Pomfrey that he resume the nutrient potions. He supposed that the boy looked healthier than he had over the summer. Perhaps a weekly dose of the potion would be better suited for him.

Looking down on the child he realized that he was awaiting some kind of a response from him. Frustrated he said, "Honestly Potter, do you not realize the level of hero worship that you have inspired since the Dark Lord vanished? You will continue to be the subject of everyone's talk regardless of what you do. You might as well just get used to it."

Harry's slammed his good fist on the bed in aggravation. "But I didn't DO anything! I don't know what happened to Voldemort! I had nothing to do with it! I was a baby! Why do they want to worship me for something I didn't even do? Don't they realize that my parents were killed that night?! I would do anything to go back and undo the things that happened on that night! I don't want to be remembered for it, I just want to try to forget about it!" he said with an angry sob. "And now for some ridiculous reason they seem to think that I am responsible for the attack on Mrs. Norris and probably will assume the same about Colin as well! I don't understand!"

Snape was out of his element. This was not something that he was accustomed to and truly wished that Madame Pomfrey or even Professor Dumbledore would jump in to rescue him from this dreadful position. Realizing that he was not going to be getting any help he quickly tried to calm the child the only way he knew how.

"Potter! Quit this incessant blubbering at once!" he said as sternly as he could manage. "None of this will cease the actions of your classmates or aid you in learning to ignore them!" He waited as Harry pulled himself together and composed himself before continuing. "Now, there is nothing that you can do to stop any of these dunderheads from continuing the petty gossip they engage in on a daily basis. The only thing that you can do is to learn to look beyond it, ignore them and do not do anything to encourage them to talk more. I am speaking of course about your continuing determination to uncover information about this house-elf." Harry looked up in protest but Snape continued on before allowing him to voice his complaints. "You are dealing with powers well beyond your current capacity to understand, Potter, and you will need to trust that I will do whatever I can to get to the bottom of this situation. Can you do that?"

Harry looked up reluctantly at his least favorite professor, studied him for a moment and then replied, "Yes, sir. But what do I do if it returns or continues to try to hurt me or get me into trouble?"

"You will report to me immediately. If for some reason you cannot find me then find Professor Dumbledore or McGonagall. Do not attempt to find or confront this creature yourself, Potter. It is obvious that this elf is not in it's right mind and is acting very peculiarly. It should therefore be treated as unstable and unsafe. Do you understand?" he asked menacingly. Harry nodded and Snape continued, "Make no mistake, Potter, when I say that you are not to concern yourself with this elf. I will not hesitate to take appropriate disciplinary actions if you disobey me."

Harry gulped. "Yes sir. I understand."

Feeling satisfied that he had gotten through to the boy he stood and said, "Good. Now get yourself to sleep. You will still be expected to turn in all assignments on time regardless of how lengthy your stay here will be. I'm sure Miss Granger will be happy to help you in collecting your assignments for you."

With that Snape turned away from Harry's bed and stalked away towards the doors to the hospital wing. As he opened the door he stopped and squinted in the darkness towards the small form huddled under the blankets that he had just left.

"One more thing, Potter," he said with a commanding tone. "You will not consume that disgusting mass of sweets that your friends have so generously lavished you with. In addition, you will be reporting here to Madam Pomfrey once a week for your nutrient potion."

Harry sighed deeply in the dark. "Yes, sir."

Feeling satisfied with himself and making a mental note to talk with Madam Pomfrey in the morning Snape left the hospital wing. He glided along the darkened and empty corridor now anxious for the sun to rise so that he could be getting some answers to these bizarre events that were becoming increasingly more concerning and ever more confusing.

Unfortunately, in the following weeks Snape had no luck uncovering any information about the house-elf's owners or any documented incidents of other elves behaving in such a manner. He had exhausted all avenues available to him at the school and was hesitant to search elsewhere for fear of calling unwanted attentions to himself. This left Snape feeling increasingly more frustrated and irritable which was easily vetted upon the delinquent students that were taking advantage of their classmates paranoia for their own financial benefits.

Following the news of the attack on Colin Creevey, an underground black market of bogus talismans, protective amulets and a variety of other such objects began to surface at the school naturally prompting collections of muggle born and even a few students who should have known better, to be foolishly deceived. It hadn't taken long for Snape to uncover the secret selling of these objects and had hoped that the whole mess would fizzle out on it's own, but when finally felt forced to intercede when the abundance of these objects continued to grow larger.

Tracing down the sellers of the counterfeit objects hadn't been difficult for Snape. He was not even the slightest bit surprised when the culprits turned out to be students from his own house. Slytherins, whether by nature or nurture, tended to be what Snape would describe as opportunists while others would call them swindlers or cheats. Their abilities to keep their eyes open and remain on the constant lookout for "the next best thing" has been taught to them by their pure-blood families since infancy. So many of them had most likely watched their own parents getting ahead in life by taking advantage of "lesser" individuals that they would think nothing of doing similar things themselves.

Nevertheless Snape was forced to discipline students that he had found to be participating in the sale of the phony protective items. Since he was loathe to take away a large amount of house points he settled on just 10 points for each seller, as well as 5 points for each student that had been naïve enough to purchase said objects, and he also administered two weeks of detention for each seller.

It was during one of these detention sessions that he was visited by Professor McGonagall who was anxious to talk to Snape and determined that it could not wait until that evening. Sighing heavily he begrudgingly left the students who were scrubbing away at a massive pile of dirty cauldrons and chopping potions ingredients for his personal stores.

After stepping just outside of his classroom and casting a quick muffliato charm, Professor McGonagall let loose an irritated stream of rantings that Snape strained to understand and keep up with.

"I can't believe…why did he dare…what is that man thinking? Did you know anything about this?" she sputtered.

"What in Merlin's name are you talking about?" Snape scoffed.

Professor McGonagall took a deep breath and said, "I am talking about Lockhart starting a dueling club for the students! That idiot knows nothing about dueling! All that he is going to do is put more students in the hospital wing!"

"I don't believe I have ever seen you so riled up like this, Minerva," Snape said with a smirk. "However, I will speak with Albus. I am certain that he is not truly aware of what he intends to do or the dangers associated with Lockhart's inability to perform the most basic of spells. That's not even mentioning the potential for backlash from concerned parents who wouldn't want the children involved in such activities or the inevitable increase of dueling among students outside of the structure of this 'club'."

"I'm afraid that he will not listen to you, Severus," she warned him ominously. "Both Filius and I have already tried talking to him about this and he was dead set on allowing it to continue."

Snape smiled at her. "I am certain that I can talk sense into the old man without much difficulty."

Despite Professor McGonagall's lengthy employment and association with the headmaster, Snape was quite confident that his opinion would weigh a bit heavier with the old man than hers would. He had been very careful over the years of his employment, to not show the slightest bit of interest or attention on so many of the trivial and meaningless issues that so many of his colleagues had concerned themselves with, making his attentions to this issue much more significant in comparison.

Professor McGonagall gave him a skeptical look, which Snape blatantly ignored. He assured her that he would go and speak to him as soon as the students in his office had completed their assigned work for the night. As he watched his delinquent students working diligently, he thought about everything except his forthcoming talk with Dumbledore since he already considered it a battle he was sure to win.


End file.
